THE 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, currently being convened in Beijing, will chart out new guidelines for making China a moderately prosperous society by 2020 and reinforcing the Party’s path towards socialism with Chinese characteristics.

After more than 30 years of reform and opening up to the outside world, it is no doubt that Chinese are much wealthier than before. While praising the progress made over the past years, the nation as a whole must be vigilant against complacency. Frankly speaking, there is still a long way to go for the Chinese Government and people in terms of enhancing the charm of the country.

If we divide the word “charm” into five letters, “C” represents “compatibility,” “H” means “health,” “A” stands for “activeness,” “R” symbolizes “resilience” and “M” signifies “manners.” In my point of view, these five traits combined together will greatly enhance the charm of the country and Chinese people in the future.

As a famous Chinese saying goes, “All rivers run into the sea.” Since we are living in the era of globalization and peoples of different nations are now better-connected than ever before, compatibility is an important trait for any modern country. In a culturally diverse China, compatibility means that we should be not only compassionate towards minority or disadvantaged groups in our society, but also amiable and gracious to foreign friends. Many expats living in Shenzhen have shared their personal experience with me, saying that Chinese are more open-minded to internationalization and becoming more passionate for charity programs in recent years, such as donating money to impoverished students and joining volunteer organizations.

Health always goes with wealth. Wealthy Chinese are now paying more attention to their health. In order to keep fit, people need to exercise more and eat healthier. It is good to see more Chinese people jogging along rivers or greenways, and walking for a while after supper. Governments at various levels should take pains to make sure that those Chinese living in rural or remote areas have easy access to good medical resources, just like those living in big cities. Efficient and basic medical services should be provided to the masses to effectively solve medical problems. Moreover, psychological health should also be taken into serious consideration by governments at various levels. The prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in China has shown an upward trend in recent years as the fast pace of life in the country brings mental stress to residents.

For many centuries, Chinese were rather passive when it came to foreign policy. Traditional Confucian philosophy reflects this, teaching followers to be reserved. Nevertheless, China has gradually become more actively involved in all international arenas in the past decades. The country is taking a leading role in global governance and multilateral cooperation, most notably by establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, proposing the Belt and Road Initiative and hosting the BRICS Summit and others. Chinese involvement is not limited to economy and politics, but also extends to science and technology.

While the U.S. Government is still asking the return of some traditional manufacturers from all over the world, Chinese are proactive about cutting overcapacity in traditional industries and are embracing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and online payment.

As one of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Plans, resilience is now accepted as a crucial agenda in China. Resilience helps countries and cities measure their capacity to endure, adapt and transform. Resilience is of vital significance on the level of individual human beings, too; we must have resilience in order to effectively meet frustration and deal with difficult situations. With resilience, we may fold, but will never break, even under great pressure. With the assistance of resilience, Chinese people can find good ways to enable further progress, identify our weakness and focus our minds on finding innovative ways to mitigate against risks on a societal level.

As a nation that emphasizes etiquette, good manners are very important in China. In recent years, Chinese tourists have become the most sought-after consumers due to their strong spending power. However, the bad manners exhibited by some Chinese tourists, such as littering, spitting, queue-jumping, speaking loudly, taking off shoes in public, smoking in nonsmoking areas, damaging private or public property and even engaging in gambling, have aroused much criticism from home and abroad. For example, Chinese people tend to travel in groups; it is common to see a group of dozens of Chinese people moving together, talking and laughing, and taking up a whole bench when having a rest, oblivious of others’ convenience and space. In order to encourage civilized behavior among Chinese travelers and rebuild a good national image, the National Tourism Administration of China has released a new regulation to record and deter uncivilized acts. Self-discipline is very important. More efforts should continue to be made to reinforce good public habits among Chinese people.

(The author is the editor-in-chief of the Shenzhen Daily with a Ph.D. from the Journalism and Communication School of Wuhan University.)